美國證交會(huì)：ICO可被視為證券并受聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管

The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday declared that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organisations — sometimes known as initial coin offerings, or ICOs, or token sales — could be deemed securities and subject to federal regulation.

美國證交會(huì)(SEC)周二宣布，“虛擬”組織發(fā)行或出售數(shù)字資產(chǎn)——有時(shí)稱為初始數(shù)字貨幣發(fā)行(ICO)或代幣(token)發(fā)行——可被視為證券并受聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管。

The regulator’s report stems from an inquiry it launched in response to a sale of tokens by The DAO, a decentralised autonomous organisation that use distributed ledger or blockchain technology to operate.

SEC的報(bào)告源于其針對(duì)去中心化自治組織(Decentralised Autonomous Organisation)The DAO發(fā)起的一次調(diào)查。The DAO使用分布式賬本或區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)實(shí)現(xiàn)運(yùn)營。

The tokens, according to the SEC, represented interests in its enterprises and were sold to investors in exchange for a kind of virtual currency known as “Ether”. Investors received certain voting and ownership rights along with their tokens, which they could also sell on certain secondary platforms.

根據(jù)SEC的說法，代幣代表著發(fā)行企業(yè)的權(quán)益，并被賣給投資者，以換取一種名為“以太”的虛擬貨幣。投資者獲得一定的投票權(quán)和所有權(quán)以及代幣，這些代幣也可以在某些二級(jí)平臺(tái)上出售。

Ultimately, the SEC deemed that the tokens were securities.

最終，SEC把代幣視為證券。

The SEC said it was not pursuing any charges or findings of violations but would use the example to caution industry participants:

SEC表示，其不尋求提起任何指控或查實(shí)違規(guī)，但會(huì)用這個(gè)例子來提醒行業(yè)參與者：

“the federal securities laws apply to those who offer and sell securities in the United States, regardless whether the issuing entity is a traditional company or a decentralized autonomous organization, regardless whether those securities are purchased using US dollars or virtual currencies, and regardless whether they are distributed in certificated form or through distributed ledger technology.”

“聯(lián)邦證券法律適用于在美國發(fā)行和出售證券的機(jī)構(gòu)，無論發(fā)行實(shí)體是傳統(tǒng)公司還是去中心化自治組織，無論這些證券是使用美元還是虛擬貨幣購買，也無論這些證券是否以認(rèn)證形式或分布式賬本技術(shù)來分發(fā)。“

The SEC’s move could complicate the rapidfire growth of the crypto-currency market, which has been powered by decentralised settlement technology known as blockchain. The value of these digital currencies — which include bitcoin — has been estimated to be worth as much as $91bn, although what the tokens actually represent can be unclear.

SEC此舉可能使加密貨幣市場的快速增長變得復(fù)雜化，名為區(qū)塊鏈的分布式結(jié)算技術(shù)為該市場的增長提供了動(dòng)力。這些數(shù)字貨幣(包括比特幣)的估值高達(dá)910億美元，盡管尚不清楚實(shí)際上哪種代幣具有代表性。

SEC chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement:

SEC主席杰伊•克萊頓(Jay Clayton)在一份聲明中說：

The SEC is studying the effects of distributed ledger and other innovative technologies and encourages market participants to engage with us. We seek to foster innovative and beneficial ways to raise capital, while ensuring – first and foremost – that investors and our markets are protected.

SEC正在研究分布式賬本等創(chuàng)新技術(shù)的影響，并鼓勵(lì)市場參與者與我們接觸。我們尋求培育出籌集資金的創(chuàng)新和有益的方式，同時(shí)又確保投資者和我們的市場得到保護(hù)——這一點(diǎn)是最重要的。